CM Buzdar pledges Punjab will protect minorities

Vows province will prove to be a model in this respect

LAHORE: A delegation of National Commission for Minority Rights, led by Dr Muhammad Shoaib Suddle, discussed facilities and matters relating to the welfare of the minorities with Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar.

A principle decision was also taken to compile the data of non-Muslim employees from across the province. Speaking on the occasion, the CM said Punjab was being made an exemplary province with regards to protection of minorities’ rights. He added the Punjab minority package would prove to be a model programme. Youhanabad, he stated, would be made a model area with an amount of Rs30o million.

The chief minister ordered the appointment of a provincial focal person to solve matters relating to minorities and added that employees belonging to the minority communities would be given official holidays on religious days. He pointed out that non-Muslim students are being given educational scholarships worth Rs.25 million, while a similar amount would be distributed among non-Muslim research scholars and postgraduate students.

The chief minister said a proposal would be reviewed to exempt non-Muslim students from appearing in competitive examinations on their religious days.

He said lands, reserved for minorities in the province, were being retrieved from squatters. He asked police officers to personally check the security of churches. Usman Buzdar said that grant of dual voting right for minorities in the local bodies’ elections was a praiseworthy step of the Punjab province. He pointed out that non-Muslim students are being imparted technical training on scholarships in collaboration with six different chambers of commerce. He stated non-Muslim prisoners will also be given remission in sentences for reading their respective religious books.

Dr Shoaib Suddle told the chief minister about the objectives of the commission and added that Punjab would emerge as a model with regard to the protection of rights and provision of facilities to non-Muslim communities.

He continued it was the need of the hour to promote tolerance for netter order in society. In his message, the chief minister said a peaceful society can be formed by promoting the norms of tolerance, brotherhood and harmony. “There is a need to encourage and promote interreligious harmony in society,” he added.

“The purpose of celebrating this day is to highlight the importance of societal norms based on the principles of harmony, tolerance and brotherhood and we should also make a commitment to play our active role in this regard,” the chief minister concluded.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 16^th, 2019.